Has anyone done a hardwood decking project?

[Ungarsee]

We had an ipe deck put down just over 4 years ago. As others have said it never looks quite as good as the moment you finish oiling it but the weathering is all part of it. I'd definitely recommend getting flat planks rather than the traditional ridged ones as much easier to clean and no build up of crud.

We normally oil it once a year in spring on a hot day so we can get 2 coats down. Have tried putting a photo on but can't upload at the moment.

[Simes110]

This is mine.

I oiled part of it earlier following a lot of use over the weekend. The covered part has only had one coat. The pergola bit has now had two.

[eniacs]

Simes; That is stunning, exactly how I'd like to be building mine. Love the covered area as well, thats on my list to do now. Thanks for posting the images up.

[Simes110]

Thank you. It wasn't a cheap job, but then I had a builder do it all.

I imagine that anyone with the time, skill and knowledge of what to do could build one for an awful lot less.

The covered area works exceptionally well. It rained for the first time last night (the first time the decking has seen rain) and there's still enough dry space to comfortably seat 6 people plus table, chairs, BBQ, etc.

[blade runner]

Simes110 said:

Thank you. It wasn't a cheap job, but then I had a builder do it all.

I imagine that anyone with the time, skill and knowledge of what to do could build one for an awful lot less.

Very nice Simes!


I did mine all myself and saved a bundle, but the ground-works especially were a PITA. Digging 60+ post holes in a old quarry is not to be recommended... Framing and laying the boards was not too bad though once I had a few clear weekends with the kids out of the way. A quick slide show of progress from start to (almost) finish below.








Never did get a final picture of the finished deck with all new boards down as I rejected a few and had to wait a month or so for replacements, By the time they came, the rest of the deck has weathered quite a bit, so the colours never all matched. All greying off nicely now though.

[eniacs]

Blade; Thats an epic amount of wood there. you could support a huge number of people on that! Whats the joist spacing on it?

I would plan to make my own as well to save of the 2k of likely labour cost. And woodworking is not exactly difficult, but maybe I have not realised the size of the job!

[blade runner]

I did posts every 1200, 400 centres on the joists and noggins to suit. Probably a bit over-engineered, but I only wanted to do it once and didn't want any flex or bounce given the size of the final deck. The framing took two weekends from start to finish and the boarding another couple of weekends on and off. Worst jobs by far were digging and setting all the posts and pre-oiling the boards on all four sides before fixing down. Otherwise fairly simple and enjoyable if you've planned it well and aren't trying to make it up as you go along.